Cross County Nationals - St. Louis

"Excuse me #732, the Nike swoosh on your singlet violates USATF sponsorship regulations in that it exceeds the maximum allowable size."

I thought about cracking an iPod joke to the "uniform marshall," but I realized as he was duct-taping over the swoosh that he wasn't kidding around. That's when I knew for sure that I was slightly out of my element in this race. Of course, I should have realized that in the tent when everyone around me looked about 130 pounds and incredibly fit.

Because I was undoubtedly one of the slowest to take the starting line, my plan was to start conversatively and hope my mileage base would allow me to pick off a few runners in the last two of the six 2k laps. For the most part, I executed that plan: I guessed that I was in 42:00 shape for a cross-country race, which works out to 3:30 per kilometer. Thanks to the relentless wind - which was noticeable to anyone watching the live feed - the first Km was much faster than the second Km of each loop. So while the splits weren't exact, I hit the 4 km mark in 14:00.

I thought (or at least hoped), that I would be able to slightly increase the pace for the next four laps. Unfortunately, I was reminded that I am both inexperienced and not very good at cross-country running. The leg fatigue that comes in such a race is simply unlike that of a road race; its much more muscular, like trying to tempo run after three hard sets of lunges. I just couldn't get the turnover going. The combination of the brutal wind, the muddy terrain on the back side of the loop, and the lack of tempo runs with where I'm at in my training cycle doomed me. Each kilometer that passed was slightly slower than the previous, much to the chagrin of Jim, screaming at me twice each loop.

Despite fading, and getting lapped by the top 4 finishers, I can at least say I never threw in the towel. My effort level was "race-like" the entire time. I had a good battle with two runners in the last lap, passing one but being dropped by the other. I crossed the line in 43:37 (a slower than expected 5:52 pace), which put me in 65th place.

Honestly though? I had a blast. While its fun to win or place well in a small local race, its also fun (and humbing) to get your ass kicked by the pros. I'm nowhere near in peak shape, with 13 weeks until my half-marathon, so I put little stock in the results - other than being willing to bet that with 2 cross-country races under my belt, I was the least experienced there. I laced him up, left it out on the course, and had fun in St. Louis the rest of the night. That being said, next year I may have a tough decision between running and just spectating.

Postscript: Speaking of "pros," my buddy and the reigning Fastest Lawyer in Chicago is quitting work, moving to Colorado, and giving a go at calling running his profession. He's run 2:22 off 60 miles a week of training and placed 17th yesterday. And he's made some noise winning a few ultras, which has gotten him a sponsorship with Salomon. He's running the Albany Marathon in a few weeks where he looks prepared to break 2:20, and after that, he's planning on 5 months of 120-150 miles per week to really find out what he's capable of. If all goes well, I wouldn't bet against a 2:15 in New York this fall. Here's his blog if you're interested in following his journey. And obviously, this means I may be able to reclaim my crown in July...

super race Dave. I enjoyed watching you on the internet.

Nice race, Dave-O. It is incredibly humbling - I can certainly attest to that and well, neither of us were DFL (and I only ran Club Nationals). XC is certainly a different animal as I am reminded every time I run it again.

Get invited is an achievement！

Nice race, Dave, you be fast!

Great race Dave especially given you're nowhere near peak.

You should join Nick Symmonds facebook group about that sponsorship rule.

Congrats on being invited and making the best of the situation. Glad it was a fun experience for you. The rest of us can only wonder what it would be like... except the part about getting our butts kicked.

I thought this was all that mattered. My effort level was "race-like" the entire time. What else can you do? Great Job Dave I enjoyed reading this report!

Good effort dude.

Running with elites...impressive. Seems like you had a great attitude too. Make it fun/memorable...Awesome stuff.

gratz, Dave. It's a lot easier to enjoy the race, when winning ain't in the cards.

That is awesome - what an experience to run with that crowd. I thought you did great - it looked windy as all get-out. What a group of runners - and you are one of them! Great job and sounds like a lot of fun to participate in something like that. Must of been a lot of energy there. Don't know how I would of taken to the uniform nazis, but it is what it is...

I love the approach of going out there and mixing it up with guys at that kind of level. With your speed, I know it would be tempting for a lot of us to cherry pick races locally and run up front all the time and win swag and trophies and even money almost every weekend. I like that you are pushing yourself into tougher race fields and uncomfortable courses/formats like XC and not being complacent with just being that local super fast guy. Time for me to go register for Pittsburgh so I get an up close view of you running with another group of fast racers. Just don't drink all the beer waiting for me to come across the line.

Some pics from the ass-kicking.

Congrats on persevering and having enough confidence to even try this thing, Dave-O. Nice pics, too. What place did 744 finish? His downhill form is awful, but at least his eyes are looking well ahead!!!

Nice job Dave. It looked like a tough day to be out running XC, but I'm glad you enjoyed the experience. Now, build on it and move on to bigger and better things (well, faster and more important to you, anyway ). Good luck as you continue your training.